Chelonoidis

At 90, Mr. Pickles the radiated tortoise is the oldest animal at the Houston Zoo. And now, the elderly reptile is also the newest father on the zoo’s premises.Mr. Pickles has sired three hatchlings named Dill, Gherkin, and Jalapeño. The hatchlings’ mother is Mrs. Pickles, a 53-year-old tortoise that arrived at the zoo in 1996. The 37-year age gap between the reptilian parents is somewhat Murdochian, but with the recent copulation, Mr. Pickles has proven himself more virile than most 90-year-old humans.Earlier this month,…

The Pyrenean ibex was a subspecies of ibex that lived across the Pyrenees; due to hunting and other pressures, by the late 20th century the animals were relegated to Ordesa National Park in Spain. The last Pyrenean ibex, a female named Celia, was found dead in 2000, having been killed by a fallen tree. Scientists managed to clone Celia and produce a new ibex, but the animal died shortly after birth due to lung defects. The Pyrenean ibex was a subspecies of ibex that lived across the Pyrenees; due to hunting and other…

A presumed-extinct giant tortoise of the Galápagos Islands was found alive in 2019, and a new DNA study confirms the female tortoise is the same species as an animal collected over a century ago. “Fernanda,” as she’s called, is the only living Fernandina Island tortoise (Chelonoidis phantastica) known and just the second member of the species ever recorded.The Galápagos Archipelago—the cradle and testing ground for Darwin’s theory of natural selection—is bedazzled with giant tortoises, some of which have gone extinct…